“I’m very happy to be joining the Fire,” Maloney said after sealing the move stateside. “I owe a lot to the manager Frank Yallop and the owner Andrew Hauptman for getting this done.

“I certainly didn’t expect it to get done this quickly, so I appreciate the faith that they’ve shown in me. It’s a brilliant league and I’m really hopeful that I’m going to enjoy Chicago and be a big part of what the club is building.”

Maloney is the third Designated Player signing the Fire have made during the offseason as the Eastern Conference club look to bounce back in 2015 after a poor campaign last year.